New Chances
by underscore65
Summary: What happens when a small child is suddenly brought into the world of the Cullen's. Will she be the missing piece of the family? Will she bring love and joy and happiness to the Cullen's? Will they all adapt easily to the changes? Will this be the child's chance at a good life?


CHAPTER 1 – The Encounter

It was a usual rainy day in Forks. The clouds covered the sky sending muted light down to those living below. Carlisle Cullen hurried from his car into the hospital, shaking the water from his back as he went. He had a busy day ahead of him in the emergency room. Not that Forks had that many emergencies that were life threatening, it still meant that on the floor he never got the chance to sit down. Not that he needed to he had a handy ability to never tire.

See the Cullen's were extraordinary people, if they could be called people at all. Carlisle, his wife Esme and their 5 children, Edward, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice and Jasper were all vampires. Not Count Dracula 'I vant to suck your blood', killed by stake to the heart and garlic vampires, but civilised vampires, often called vegetarians by the abstinence of human blood, and their indestructability, as the only true way to kill a vampire if with fire. They appeared very human like, except with very pale cold skin and golden eyes. There was something in their nature that attracted humans to them, to help with the normal diet of human blood, and they had the odd ability to sparkle in sunlight, because of their venom. They were faster than humans, and had heightened senses, which often were helpful in Carlisles line of work. Because of the civility of Carlisles coven, or as he liked to think of it, family, they were able to interact with the human population, which is how he found himself working at a hospital on a Tuesday morning.

As the hours of his shift dragged on, Carlisle found himself thinking back on his family. It was summer holidays currently, which meant that the 'children' would be a t home or out hunting, Esme, his wife, had probably joined them today, taking a break from designing a house for a client in Seattle. He was just about to go on his 'lunch' break, a pointless break in his work, when the ambulance pulled in to the hospital sirens blaring. Carlisle quickly rushed to the Emergency room ready to be able to help.

Sam one of the local EMT was there pulling out a very small child on a stretcher. At the sight Carlisles heart broke. She seemed so small, unconscious and surrounded by blankets the bruises standing out on her pale skin. He could see from the odd angle of her arm that it was broken, and the swelling of her ankle was worrying him. Sam voice cut through his observations.

'Carlisle', he called gaining the attention of the vampire. 'Broken arm, suspected broken ankle, fractured ribs and cracked skull, her breathing is irregular but stable.' Carlisle growled at the thought that a man, her father no less, could cause this much damage to the small body.

Quickly he directed Sam over to an empty bed on the far side of the ER, out of the prying eyes of some of the other patients. Attaching a heart monitor onto her least damaged hand he was able to see she had lacerations along her palms and up her arms. Carlisle thanked the Lord that his bloodlust was so well controlled. He directed Carly Webber to take the girl to x ray, to see the extent of her damage before turning to Sam.

'What happened?' Carlisle questioned.

'A disturbance was hear by the neighbours this morning, police were called and discovered this little one, passed out in a pool of her mother's blood. Father was nowhere to be seen.' Sam responded, the emotions raw in his voice. 'We were called to the scene when they discovered she had a heartbeat, before wrapping her up and bringing her here. The weird thing is, I have never seen her before in my life, and I have lived here for the past 20 years. No one knew her parents even had a child; she is a very well-kept secret.' Carlisle was shocked. Not only did it appear this child was severely abused by her father, but it seemed she had never set foot outside her house. He was awoken out of his musing by Nurse Webber informing him the girl had been moved to room 203. He went to radiology to pick up her x-rays and was shocked by what he saw.

Not only was her left radius snapped completely, but there were many contusions along the bone, suggesting that it had been broken before and not completely healed. Looking at the x-ray of her chest and head he saw the same things on her ribs and skull. Disgusted by what he saw Carlisle turned to the x-ray of her leg and was relieved to see that it wasn't broken, just fractured. A small miracle in the scheme of things really. Getting the casting materials ready Carlisle walked to the young girl's room.

As he approached her bed he realised that not only was she awake, she was petrified by her surroundings, her heart beating quite quickly, her chest wheezing as she tried to take deep breaths.

'Calm down little one,' he tried to say in his most soothing voice. Carlisle saw her eyes glaze over before she became alert again, and seemingly more scared. He took a step back, not wanting to overwhelm her and send her into a panic attack.

'You are in the hospital', he tried explaining. At this the girl got worse. Tears started to leak out her eyes.

'I am a doctor, I can help you.' Carlisle tried again. This had an even worse affect the young girl started to cry hysterically.

Realising that she was saying things in between her tears, Carlisle was able to make out the words

'Please….save me …Princess …please…help.'

Slowly so as not to startle her, Carlisle walked out the door. Once it was shut, he could hear her hysterical crying calm down a bit, as her heart monitor decreased slightly. Not knowing what to do or how to proceed, he stood outside the door.

Hey Carlisle, what ups?' a voice behind him startled him. Carlisle turned and seeing his eldest daughter Rosalie he was surprised. He wouldn't admit it, but Rosalie wasn't his favourite child. He found her to be a bit abrupt at some times, relying on her good looks, which were exceptional even for a vampire, to get her out of situations she didn't particularly like.

'What are you doing here?' he questioned.

'Alice said you might need help on something, but she wasn't quite sure what and that I may be able to help. What's going on her anyway?' Alice had the extra ability to see the future, well at least the subjective future. What confused Carlisle was the fact that Alice wasn't sure in her vision.

'A young girl was brought into today, severely abused, I was just about to put the cast on her arm when she nearly had a panic attack, I was trying to decide the best way to approach it.'

'Is she scared of everyone, or just males?' Rosalie asked, genuine concern leaking through her voice at the idea of an abused child.

'I'm not sure, but you are welcome to try and get her to calm. I have no idea what life was like before now, so I have no idea who she fears and even why she fears them.'

On the other side of the door I could hear that the child had calmed down, but still she was repeating over and over again

'Please….save me…Princess …please…help,' almost as if it was a person mantra. Also hearing it, Rosalie slowly opened the door and peaked in.

The small bundle she saw curled up on the bed made her stomach clench in pain. Looking at the child faces, or what she could see that wasn't swollen or bruised, she looked around five or six, but she was so small she could easily pass for three. Her hair hung is dirty clumps that were covered in grime, blood and who knows what else. She had been cut out of her original clothes and put into a gown which hung off her every which way, making her appear small than she was, or at least Rosalie hoped she was. She could see her eyes were closed as she muttered her mantra under her breath and so Rosalie approached the bed.

When she was about a step away, Rosalie cleared her throat, making sure the child knew she was there. The monitors witnessed a rise in the small girl's heartbeat allowing Rosalie to know that the girl knew she was there. Not sure how to continue, Rosalie coughed again before saying.

'Hello little one how are you?'

At the sound of her voice, the young girl's eyes flew open. Taking in the appearance of Rosalie her eyes went wider and she gasped slightly.

'Princess?' she breathed, which confused Rosalie more. 'Princess, you finally came. Please save me, save me, save me.' Once again the girl broke down into sobs. But she didn't seem put off by Rosalie's presence, in fact these seemed like tears of relief rather than frightened tears. Closing the distance between herself and the crying child, Rosalie gently put her arms out, as if to hug the girl. Quite quickly the girl jumped into the arms of Rosalie, before snuggling deep into the embrace. Unsure of what to do, Rosalie comforted the child, softly stroking her back and hair, hoping she was making her feel safe. The girl hummed in contentment and began to drift into a peaceful sleep, still murmuring every now and then 'thank you Princess'.

When she had finally stilled Rosalie called Carlisle in, who had been standing outside the door waiting to see what would happen. Quickly, using his vampire speed to its full effect, Carlisle bandaged the girl's ankle, taped up her ribs, plastered her wrist and inserted an IV to get nutrients into her malnourished body. He then took a few samples of blood, wanting to help solve any problems or diseases the girl may have. As he left the room with the vials of blood he noticed Rosalie's posture. She was softly curled around the girl, creating a barrier between the girl and the outside world. Her face portrayed a range of emotions that varied from intrigue, fascination and love.

'Her blood doesn't call to me,' Rosalie breathed to Carlisle. 'And she is so precious when she is sleeping.'

Carlisle sniffed the air and noted that the usual drive to drink the blood that he could normally contain wasn't there at all. His eyes shifted to the resting child taking in her features and he smiled.

'Correct on both counts, she is an extraordinary girl.'

'Do you know what she was talking about, with the whole Princess thing?' Rosalie asked.

'Nothing more than apparently that's who she thinks you are. You can ask her more questions when she awakes, I am sure she will be more than happy to share it with you.'

With that Carlisle left the room and hurried off to check on his other patients that he had been neglecting since the arrival of the little girl. Luckily none of them were serious. He called Esme and informed her and the others of what had happened that day. Alice seemed particularly interested in the details he was giving.

Rosalie was left alone with her thoughts and the girl. She came to the resolution that once she awoke she would ask all the questions she had buzzing in her head. But for now she would simply bask in the warmth and peace that the girl seemed to expel.


End file.
